Belair Park is a park located in the West Dulwich part of the London Borough of Southwark, southeast London, England. The park grounds once belonged to Belair House, a country villa built in Adam style that is now a Grade II listed building. [1] There are also two other Grade II listed structures within the park: the lodge and entrance gate, [2] and an old stable building. [3]
The park, which is 10.6 hectares (26 acres) in area, [4] is bordered by the South Circular Road and Gallery Road. It has recently been refurbished with upgraded tennis courts and the addition of a skate board facility. The London Borough of Southwark has plans to make the park more widely accessible.
The circuit around the park using its paved paths is approximately 750 m (2,460 ft).
The lake is the only substantial stretch of the ancient River Effra remaining above ground. [5]
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The estate consisted of two farms until it was leased to John Willes in 1785. Willes, a maize farmer of Whitechapel, erected a house, possibly with help from Robert Adam, but more likely from Henry Holland. This house was named College Place and the lake, as mentioned by Willes when he first leased the land from Dulwich College, was beyond the original boundary of the estate.
After John Willes' death in 1818, solicitor Charles Ranken acquired the property and renamed the house Belair.
Charles Hutton, a wool merchant and sheriff of London and Middlesex, purchased the remainder of the lease. It would seem that the majority of structural changes occurred during his ownership. North and south wings, together with conservatories and numerous outbuildings were constructed. Eventually, Belair grew to 47 rooms. Hutton lived there with his wife, their eleven children, and ten live-in servants. However, the house fell into disrepair when Hutton's Berlin wool business started to lose money.
Sir Evan Spicer of Spicer's paper merchants was granted a lease. In his time, the property had a farm with cows, pigs, chickens, ducks and horses. In the coach house by the Gallery Road entrance, there was a coach and horses to take Sir Evan and his family across Dulwich Park to Emmanuel Church in Barry Road on Sundays. The original pump outside the coach house, which was used to water the horses, is still there. Sir Evan Spicer was the last private owner of the Belair Estate.
Belair was sold by auction after Spicer's death. With the onset of World War II, it again fell into a state of ruin. It was used first as a store, then as premises for the military.
Southwark Council purchased the lease. The main building had to be rebuilt from ground level, retaining only the original staircase. Completed in 1964, the house was restored as Willes had built it, without the extra wings and conservatories.
Under council ownership, Belair served a similar purpose to that of a village hall. The facilities were variously used for ballet lessons or as changing rooms.[ citation needed ] The only maintenance during this time was the painting of the exterior.
Gary Cady took over the running of Belair House and oversaw a complete refurbishment of the entire building, turning it into a restaurant and bar.
Sam Hajaj took over Belair House for two years until November 2004. No major work was carried out in this period.
Ibi Issolah became proprietor and took over Belair House, renaming it Beauberry House. Major refurbishment was done creating two new open-air diners, an outside bar terrace with a 2 am licence (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) and a terrace diner. The first floor was made into a private dining room and bar. The establishment then reopened on St Valentine's Day, 2006.
Alan Dugard and local resident Arron Curtis took the reins at Beauberry House and returned its name to Belair House. With extensive interior refurbishing, the house was restored to its Georgian heritage. Belair House now features a warm cocktail bar, sumptuous dining room, craft ale house and multipurpose event space. The official opening took place during the festive season[ when? ] of 2013.
The London Borough of Southwark in south London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London Government Act 1963. All districts of the area are within the London postal district. It is governed by Southwark London Borough Council.
Dulwich is an area of south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of Herne Hill. Dulwich lies in a valley between the neighbouring districts of Camberwell, Crystal Palace, Denmark Hill, Forest Hill, Peckham, Sydenham Hill, and Tulse Hill.
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The Dulwich Estate, previously the Estates Governors of Alleyn's College of God's Gift at Dulwich, is a registered charity in England, one of the successors to the historic charity Edward Alleyn's College of God's Gift that was founded in 1619. It owns the freehold of around 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) in Dulwich, South London, including a number of private roads and a tollgate. The estate properties range from Regency and 19th century buildings to distinguished modernist 1960s buildings.
Sydenham Hill forms part of a longer ridge and is an affluent locality in southeast London. It is also the name of a road which runs along the northeastern part of the ridge, demarcating the London Boroughs of Southwark, Bromley, and Lewisham. Its highest part is the apex of the Boroughs of Southwark and Lewisham and the 15th-highest peak in London, at 367 feet (112 m).
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Sydenham Hill Wood is a ten-hectare wood on the northern slopes of the Norwood Ridge in the London Borough of Southwark. It is designated as a Local Nature Reserve and Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. With the adjacent Dulwich Wood, Sydenham Hill Wood is the largest extant tract of the ancient Great North Wood. The two woods are formed from coppices known as Lapsewood, Old Ambrook Hill Wood and Peckarmans Wood after the relocation of The Crystal Palace in 1854 and the creation of the high level line in 1865.
Kingswood House, formerly known as King's Coppice, is a Victorian mansion in South Dulwich at the southerly tip of the London Borough of Southwark, England. It is a Grade II listed building. In 1811 William Vizard, the solicitor to Queen Caroline in her divorce from George IV, was granted a 63-year lease for Kingswood Lodge. When Vizard returned to his native Gloucestershire in 1831, others were granted the property leases.
Gallery Road is in West Dulwich, Southwark, southeast London, England.
Camberwell Public Baths opened in 1892 and has been in continuous operation as publicly funded community baths and more recently as a public leisure centre.
Beltwood House is a Grade II listed building within the Dulwich Wood Conservation Area in south London, England. The large three-storey mansion has fifty rooms and stands in 1.24 hectares of wooded grounds, with gatekeeper's lodge. The site has been subject to a blanket tree preservation order since 1985.
The Half Moon is a Grade II* listed public house at 10 Half Moon Lane, Herne Hill, London. It is one of only 270 pubs on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors, was frequented by the poet and writer Dylan Thomas, and was a noteworthy live music venue for nearly 50 years, hosting three gigs by U2 in 1980. In 2015, The Half Moon Public House was listed by Southwark Council as an Asset of Community Value, and is described by Nikolaus Pevsner as, "a cheerful corner pub of 1896".
The Crown and Greyhound is a Grade II listed public house at 73 Dulwich Village, Dulwich, London. It is classified by CAMRA as a pub with a regionally important historic interior. The pub is affectionately referred to by locals as "The Dog", and sometimes as "The Dog and Hat". The pub is particularly noteworthy for its post-war connection to the British poetry movement. It is described by Nikolaus Pevsner as, "a cheerfully cross gabled pub".
